Hopeless
by Sora no Hairo Yuki
Summary: "Well, Deidara," she began slowly, "I am in love with that guy with the long hair." "You mean the one making out with that teeny-bopper?" NejiTen slight DeiTen


Tenten loved parties. She especially loved this party, because for some reason, everyone kept telling her how pretty she was, even though she hadn't even bothered to shower before coming and was wearing only a simple t-shirt and some cut-off shorts. Yes, people were drunk, but this group of really drunk people used the words "gorgeous" and "stunning" compared to the usual "sexy" and "fuck-able." It might have had something to do with the high concentration of gay men, not that she minded one bit. In fact, she was rather fond of most gays, seeing that they always managed to boost her confidence, unlike the straight men that usually made her feel like shit.

There was a particular straight man that was making her feel particularly shitty though. Tenten had brought her best friend along to the party, because for some odd reason, he actually wanted to go. He usually liked to stick to their close group of friends, but he insisted that he go with her to this one. She was reluctant to bring him along, knowing he'd probably be an awkward stick in the mud, but he was her best friend and she could never say "no" to him.

"Don't drink that shitty beer, have one of mine."

Tenten looked to her right to see a good looking blond with long hair handing her a fancy looking beer. He was obviously gay; no man could be so pretty and be straight. There was something about him that unsettled her a bit; maybe it was the way his blue eyes were staring straight into hers as if he were looking at the optic nerve behind her eyeballs. Still, she smiled at him gently and took the offered drink, wondering if something had been done to it.

"Thanks."

After rationalizing in her head that there was no reason for this gay man to roofie her, she took a swig and to her delight, she learned that the beer she was drinking before was indeed shitty.

"It's good," she said, trying to avoid his intense gaze. She wasn't drunk enough yet to be extremely social.

The blond nodded silently with a small smile, making Tenten feel even more awkward.

"You're too pretty to be standing over here by yourself," he stated.

She let out a modest laugh through her nose and finally broke his stare. She stared at her beer and picked at the foil on the neck of the bottle. Her smile fell a bit, but it still managed to hang on.

"I'm just a bit peeved, is all," she responded, still staring at the beer bottle. She was afraid to meet his intense eyes again.

"Why's that?"

She took in a deep breath. Was she tipsy enough to tell this stranger why she was being a bit moody?

"I'm sorry, what was your name again?" She asked, putting off her answer for just a few seconds more. She sort of felt like a bitch for asking, remembering that they had been briefly introduced before, but she wasn't one to dwell on the feelings of a stranger for too long.

"Deidara," he answered, not showing his offense, if he felt any at all.

Tenten turned her head towards him, but refused to meet his eyes that she could feel burning into her scalp. She chose to stare at the seam on his shoulder of his grey striped shirt. "Well, Deidara," she began slowly, "I am in love with that guy with the long hair."

The pretty, blond man looked over the kitchen counter and into the living room to see the guy she was talking about. He spotted the said guy with long hair sitting on the sofa, and it was easy to tell why Tenten was so peeved.

"You mean the one making out with that teeny-bopper?"

"Yup."

Tenten knew she was trying to make Deidara feel awkward on purpose, and was surprised when he didn't leave her alone. Instead, he kept talking.

"Well, I can't compete with a Hyuuga."

She responded by finally reconnecting their eyes, her eyes a little wider with curiosity.

"Come on, I already told you that you're pretty. You're very pretty, in fact. Of course you'd be taken by some rich douche," he babbled, "and here I was thinking I was being all smooth by offering you this nice beer."

She blankly stared at him. She thanked the god of beer that she was sober enough to still be tactful and that her facial muscles had the strength to hold a poker face. Her inner-self was crying, she was laughing so hard. Seriously, Tenten would be the dense idiot who would label a good looking guy who's trying to make a move on her as gay.

"What is it?" Deidara asked. "Is something wrong?"

A chuckle escaped her as she shook her head from side to side. "Nothing," she managed to say, breaking eye contact yet again.

"You don't seem that upset," he noted aloud.

"I'm used to it," she replied as if she knew what he was going to say before he even said it. She'd given the same answer so many times that it almost started to bore her, yet with every repetition, it made her feel stronger.

"Does he know that you love him?"

It was the question that she hated the most.

"No way, I'm like a sister to him." It was the answer she hated the most. Neji loved her as a sister, and nothing more. She loved Neji as a brother, and nothing less.

"Oh."

Now she wasn't even trying to make things awkward for poor Deidara. She was just being plain grumpy and antisocial. She really wanted him to leave her alone.

"You shouldn't torture yourself like this. You're gorgeous." The blond played his last card. He knew it was hopeless, but part of him still hoped that Tenten would throw herself into his arms and they could at least do some "trying to ignore the pain" making out.

Something clicked in Tenten's brain. Her deep brown eyes suddenly bore into his blue ones, instead of the other way around. "Listen, I'm a romantic. I'll continue my unrequited love story, because it's more beautiful that way for when I get my happy ending."

Deidara was really fighting the urge to kiss the girl in front of him. She reminded him of his sculptures that he liked to blow up once they were finished, because they really weren't finished until they exploded. He smirked instead though.

"And what is your ideal happy ending?"

"The way I see it, Neji and I will be 35 and we'll be the only single ones left in our group of friends. He'll realize that he's in love with me and say, 'Yo, we're the only ones left, and you're my best friend, which means we're compatible, let's get married,' in which I will respond with, 'Why yes, Neji. I thought you would never ask. I've only been planning our wedding since we were 15,'" she answered with a smile, because she just loved imagining it happening. It seemed so realistic in her mind.

Deidara laughed, because he knew she wasn't telling the story she really wanted to tell, the sappy mushy version that involves a riverboat ride, or a big oak tree and a white horse. "Well, I hope you don't have to wait that long."

She shook her head again. "I really don't mind waiting. Yes, it hurts to see him sucking face with some bimbo, but he's never going to see that girl again, that's why I would never want to be in her place, nor in the place of any other girl he's been with or will get with within the next 15 years. He can fool around now, fuck up, make mistakes, and learn from them, so that way he gets it right for when he's with me. That's why I don't mind waiting."

The handsome blond man stared at her with an incredulous smile. His stare wasn't the same intense stare from earlier, but a simple gape at this incredible girl who was truly, hopelessly in love with what he deemed, a total moron.

"Well, I feel like an ass. I will leave you to yourself then. Enjoy the beer."

With that said, Deidara disappeared for the rest of the night.

The night rolled on. Tenten didn't get too drunk, seeing that she had to get up during the middle of power hour to carry someone to the porcelain god for some heavy duty worshipping. She also had to attend to someone who may have gotten a concussion for stumbling into the wall and subsequently, the floor.

It was a little past two in the morning when she plopped herself in an armchair, curled up, and was ready to fall asleep. People around her were still going hard, but somehow the loud voices and dubstep playing the background sounded like a lullaby. Her eyelids were succumbing to the force of gravity when she felt something warm on her forearm. Her eyes cracked open a bit to see a very drunk Neji resting his chin on her arm.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Of course," she mumbled.

"You need anything?"

"Nope, I'm fine. Go cuddle with that blonde girl tonight. I think the other girl with black hair wants in on it too. Make it a threesome."

He smiled at her. "We'll see."

With that said, he got up and kissed her on the forehead, a family-like gesture, and then kissed her on the arm, a not-so-family-like gesture, but they both accepted it as normal anyway. He went off to probably go find the floozy he was snogging with before, and left Tenten to herself on the armchair.

She felt tears stinging in her eyes, but never let them fall.

"Hyuuga Neji, you have a lot of fucking up to do before you deserve me."


End file.
